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Regina H Reynolds
Molecular biologist turned bioinformatician, with a passion for systems-level biology, statistics and data visualisation and the application of these to answer biological questions. My current work explores the role of different cell types in neurodegeneration, making use of large-scale genomic and transcriptomic datasets.
Education
PhD, Bioinformatics
University College London
London, UK
2021 - 2016
- Thesis: Exploring the importance of cell-type-specific gene expression regulation and splicing in Parkinson’s disease
- Integrated bulk-tissue and single-cell transcriptomic data with summary-level genetic association data to investigate the role of cell-type-specific gene expression regulation and splicing in Parkinson’s disease.
- Published 3 first/co-first author research articles and 1 first author review.
- Successfully secured £10,000 from Signe og Peter Gregersens Mindefond to undertake transcriptional profiling of Parkinson’s disease brain tissue.
MSc, Molecular Biomedicine
University of Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark
2016 - 2014
- Thesis: Changes in the miR-34a-SIRT1 axis in Huntington’s disease
- Grade: A (92.5%)
BSc, Molecular Biomedicine
University of Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark
2013 - 2010
- Thesis: Pro-apoptotic factors in Huntington’s disease: a study in the R6/2 transgenic mouse model
- Grade: A (96.7%)
General Certificate of Education Advanced Level
Doha College
Doha, Qatar
2008 - 2006
- Grades: Biology (A), Chemistry (A), History (A), Mathematics (A), Advanced Extension Award History (Merit)
Work experience
Research Fellow
University College London
London, UK
Present - 2021
- Lead analyst involved in processing and analysing transcriptomic data generated with the aim of identifying molecular signatures of Parkinson’s disease progression. Work done primarily using R, nextflow and docker.
- Co-lead of Code and Pipeline Alignment Working Group in the Aligning Sciences Across Parkinson’s initiative. This group aims to maximize the value of data generated from finite post-mortem brain tissues through code alignment, which will enable eventual meta-analysis.
Research Assistant
University of Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark
2016 - 2016
- Led project exploring the interactions between miR-34a, Sirt1 and p53 in a Huntington’s disease mouse model, which culminated in a first author publication.
Housing Assistant
DIS, Study Abroad in Scandinavia, Denmark
Copenhagen, Denmark
2015 - 2013
- Student assistant involved in general administrative tasks; organisation of bi-annual orientation meeting for hosts/students; and conflict mediation between hosts and students.
Teaching experience
Subsidiary PhD Supervisor
University College London
London, UK
Present - 2021
- Involved in top-level project planning and provide a second opinion/additional areas of expertise where appropriate.
R fundamentals with Clinician Coders
University College London
London, UK
Present - 2019
- Developed materials and led workshops teaching basic R and tidy data principles to clinical academics.
Omics Techniques
King’s College London
London, UK
2019 - 2017
- Lectured graduate level students on the principles of genome-wide association studies and led a workshop on how/why to use the Genotype-Tissue Expression portal.
Voluntary Work
Mentor
London, UK
Present - 2017
- Mentored 4 A-level students looking to work in the field of biomedical research.
Key publications
A full list of publications is available online at https://rhreynolds.github.io/cv
Cross-platform transcriptional profiling identifies common and distinct molecular pathologies in Lewy body disorders
Acta Neuropathologica
N/A
2021
- Feleke, R, Reynolds, RH, Smith, A, Tilley, B, Gagliano Taliun, SA, Hardy, J, Matthews, PM, Gentleman, S, Owen , D, Johnson, MR, Srivastava, P, Ryten, M
- Role: Co-first author and analyst.
- Transcriptomic analysis of cell-type-specific changes in the Lewy body diseases.
Informing disease modelling with brain-relevant functional genomic annotations
Brain
N/A
2019
- Reynolds, RH, Hardy, J, Ryten, M, Gagliano Taliun, SA
- Role: First author.
- Review of conceptual advances in the generation of brain-relevant functional genomic annotations and among tools that allow integration of these annotations with genome-wide association summary statistics.
Moving beyond neurons: the Role of cell type-specific gene regulation in Parkinson’s disease heritability
NPJ Parkinson’s disease
N/A
2019
- Reynolds, RH, Botía, JA, Nalls, MA, International Parkinson’s Disease Genomic Consortium (IPDGC), System Genomics of Parkinson’s Disease (SGPD), Hardy, J, Gagliano Taliun, SA, Ryten, M
- Role: First author and lead analyst.
- Analysis of Parkinson’s disease common variation, with the aim of identifying cell types and pathways of importance to disease risk.
Conferences
AD/PD, Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s Diseases Conference
N/A
Hybrid event
2022
- Talk: Identifying genetic correlations among neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases
Genomics of Brain Disorders
N/A
Virtual event
2021
- Talk: Dysregulation of splicing in human brain from individuals with Lewy body disease informs disease mechanisms
International Parkinson’s Disease Genomics Consortium
N/A
London, UK
2019
- Talk: Pairing bulk and single-nuclear RNA-seq to identify dementia-related pathways in PD
AD/PD, Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s Diseases Conference
N/A
Lisbon, Portugal
2019
- Talk: Mapping Parkinson’s disease heritability to specific brain cell types
- Received mention in a blog post on Alzforum.
International Parkinson’s Disease Genomics Consortium
N/A
Reykjavik, Iceland
2018
- Talk: Moving beyond neurons: exploring the importance of cell type-specific gene expression in Parkinson’s disease